Pro 106 road trip results

Status
Not open for further replies.

shocker81

Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
61
Location
Haysville, Ks.
Well after meeting with a fellow radio reference member at the Braum's on Sunday afternoon I started my road trip around the different counties. I first headed to Butler County and my whole objective was to find out how well I could pick up the new Sedgwick County Digital system. I was shocked to say the least by some of my findings. I will break it down by county and city. #1. BUTLER COUNTY. As I headed East into Butler County the system was easily picked by the 106 as I went through Andover. As I got closer to Augusta it started getting really choppy and by the time I got into Augusta I could not pick up anything at all. As I started North out of Augusta on Ohio street heading toward El Dorado I started picking up the system pretty good. When I was in downtown El Dorado I did not hear much at all. It was choppy and hard to understand. As I started West through El Dorado and then headed North on K-196 it started getting better. The farther West I went the better it was. I got off of the beaten path and made my way into Potwin and into whitewater. As I slowly cruised through these towns I was picking up the Sedgwick County system really clear with minimum dropouts and broken conversations. As I got back onto K-196 and headed West from Whitewater It started fading out real bad. #2. HARVEY COUNTY. As I got into Harvey County I was not picking up anything at all. I went up K-15 into the middle of Newton and came back to K-50 without hearing anything at all. Now as I headed West out of Newton on K-50 I started picking up the Sedgwick County system really good. As I went by Halstead and then through Burrton it was really really good. #3. RENO COUNTY. As I entered Reno County I started losing the signals pretty quick. I spent two hours in Hutchinson driving around the city and outside of the city and eating at the Sirloin Stockade and I heard absolutely nothing at all in the city of Hutchinson. So after I ate I started the last leg of my journey and headed toward Kingman County as it was already getting dark outside and the windstorm was headed my way. I headed South on Main St. until it turned into K-14. As I was entering South Hutchinson on K-14 I started picking up the system pretty good. As I was headed South and I was 21 miles North of K-54/400 the system was as clear as a bell, no dropouts, no broken conversations, no choppiness at all. That was the way it was all the way to K-54/-400. I could not believe this but there it was it was really clear. I headed West toward Kingman and it was staying really good. #4. KINGMAN COUNTY. As I cruised through Kingman on K-54/400 and then South on Main Street in Kingman it was still coming in exceptionally loud and clear. I started heading East out of Kingman at 7:25 P.M. and by then we were receiving the 50 mph wind gusts from the North across k-54/400. All the way back into Sedwgick county the system worked flawlessly. So I believe if anybody who lives in Butler County, Reno County and Kingman County and they have a discone antenna on a pole about 10 feet above the roof of their house they would not have any problem picking up the signal especially if they were using a RS Pro 197 base unit. As far as Harvey County I think you could do pretty good with that setup in Eastern and Western Harvey County but in Newton itself I think you would be hard pressed to hear anything at all. What was interesting in Harvey County I was hearing Butler County loud and clear and that includes inside the city of Newton. It seems they have their towers pointed to the North and Northwest. When I was heading West toward Reno County I almost had to be at K-50 and Yoder road to hear Reno County and Hutchinson P.D. Reno County came in loud and clear while I was in Reno County but Hutchinson P.D. dispatch was clear but a lot of the officers transmissions were encrypted. So in summation the Sedgwick system can be picked up in the outlying areas pretty good for the most part but I think you will need a good base unit and a good outside antenna some distance above the roof of your home in those counties I was in today. It was a fun day, I hope I answered some unanswered questions and I hope I helped anybody that needed any help with this system. I think to improve the system with the radio's we now have on hand I think we will need to tweak the threshold settings for each system we have programmed into our radio's. There has to be a sweet spot of settings for each system but it will take some work on our part to find it for each individual system. But that is what is fun about monitoring. Facing a challenge up front and head on to make our hobby more enjoyable for ourselves and our fellow scanner friends. And if you find something interesting or find something that makes your system work better today than it did yesterday or last week be sure to share it with everybody so we can try it out and see if it works for us. That is why I made the trip today, just to see what the system is all about and to see what can and what can not be done with it. I hope it helped somebody. I know it did me. Talk to you later.
 
Last edited:

shocker81

Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
61
Location
Haysville, Ks.
Well When I was going West on K-50 I was north of you but by the time I got to the Western part of Harvey County I had lost the Sedgwick County system. So you would be in that general area.
 

Ensnared

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Messages
4,438
Location
Waco, Texas
The Art of Programming

I've monitored the relatively seamless KSICS P25 trunking system in Kansas on several occasions. I consider Kansas to be one of the best systems for continuous coverage. It took several days to program, it was well worth the effort.

When I analyze any statewide system, I first open up the locations of the sites & then see which ones intersect with my route. Site Map: Kansas Statewide Interoperable Communication System (KSICS) Trunking System, Statewide, Kansas

I use a GRE PSR 500 with 1/4 wave stainless scanner monitor antenna.

Although I've not heard the new Sedwick County system, I will be programming it in the near future. However, since this is a relatively new system, subject to changing AC/CC's, I will likely program all of the system frequencies.

When I've traveled from the Kansas/Oklahoma line into Kansas, I've traveled on 35-335-70 into KC. I had wonderful reception during all trips using this route.
 

palmerlake

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2013
Messages
11
Location
kansas
Well after meeting with a fellow radio reference member at the Braum's on Sunday afternoon I started my road trip around the different counties. I first headed to Butler County and my whole objective was to find out how well I could pick up the new Sedgwick County Digital system. I was shocked to say the least by some of my findings. I will break it down by county and city. #1. BUTLER COUNTY. As I headed East into Butler County the system was easily picked by the 106 as I went through Andover. As I got closer to Augusta it started getting really choppy and by the time I got into Augusta I could not pick up anything at all. As I started North out of Augusta on Ohio street heading toward El Dorado I started picking up the system pretty good. When I was in downtown El Dorado I did not hear much at all. It was choppy and hard to understand. As I started West through El Dorado and then headed North on K-196 it started getting better. The farther West I went the better it was. I got off of the beaten path and made my way into Potwin and into whitewater. As I slowly cruised through these towns I was picking up the Sedgwick County system really clear with minimum dropouts and broken conversations. As I got back onto K-196 and headed West from Whitewater It started fading out real bad. #2. HARVEY COUNTY. As I got into Harvey County I was not picking up anything at all. I went up K-15 into the middle of Newton and came back to K-50 without hearing anything at all. Now as I headed West out of Newton on K-50 I started picking up the Sedgwick County system really good. As I went by Halstead and then through Burrton it was really really good. #3. RENO COUNTY. As I entered Reno County I started losing the signals pretty quick. I spent two hours in Hutchinson driving around the city and outside of the city and eating at the Sirloin Stockade and I heard absolutely nothing at all in the city of Hutchinson. So after I ate I started the last leg of my journey and headed toward Kingman County as it was already getting dark outside and the windstorm was headed my way. I headed South on Main St. until it turned into K-14. As I was entering South Hutchinson on K-14 I started picking up the system pretty good. As I was headed South and I was 21 miles North of K-54/400 the system was as clear as a bell, no dropouts, no broken conversations, no choppiness at all. That was the way it was all the way to K-54/-400. I could not believe this but there it was it was really clear. I headed West toward Kingman and it was staying really good. #4. KINGMAN COUNTY. As I cruised through Kingman on K-54/400 and then South on Main Street in Kingman it was still coming in exceptionally loud and clear. I started heading East out of Kingman at 7:25 P.M. and by then we were receiving the 50 mph wind gusts from the North across k-54/400. All the way back into Sedwgick county the system worked flawlessly. So I believe if anybody who lives in Butler County, Reno County and Kingman County and they have a discone antenna on a pole about 10 feet above the roof of their house they would not have any problem picking up the signal especially if they were using a RS Pro 197 base unit. As far as Harvey County I think you could do pretty good with that setup in Eastern and Western Harvey County but in Newton itself I think you would be hard pressed to hear anything at all. What was interesting in Harvey County I was hearing Butler County loud and clear and that includes inside the city of Newton. It seems they have their towers pointed to the North and Northwest. When I was heading West toward Reno County I almost had to be at K-50 and Yoder road to hear Reno County and Hutchinson P.D. Reno County came in loud and clear while I was in Reno County but Hutchinson P.D. dispatch was clear but a lot of the officers transmissions were encrypted. So in summation the Sedgwick system can be picked up in the outlying areas pretty good for the most part but I think you will need a good base unit and a good outside antenna some distance above the roof of your home in those counties I was in today. It was a fun day, I hope I answered some unanswered questions and I hope I helped anybody that needed any help with this system. I think to improve the system with the radio's we now have on hand I think we will need to tweak the threshold settings for each system we have programmed into our radio's. There has to be a sweet spot of settings for each system but it will take some work on our part to find it for each individual system. But that is what is fun about monitoring. Facing a challenge up front and head on to make our hobby more enjoyable for ourselves and our fellow scanner friends. And if you find something interesting or find something that makes your system work better today than it did yesterday or last week be sure to share it with everybody so we can try it out and see if it works for us. That is why I made the trip today, just to see what the system is all about and to see what can and what can not be done with it. I hope it helped somebody. I know it did me. Talk to you later.

Good report Shocker 81,Palmerlake
 

Redneck0410

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2008
Messages
1,002
Location
Hutchinson, KS
Am I missing something here? Isn't the SG P25 system supposed to be a phase 2 system, or did that get scrapped? I am trying to figure out if I should spring for one of them new Unidens or not. Also, in theory, if one has the attenuation on near the towers, as you hit the fringe of the coverage areas, did you disable the attenuator or were settings the same throughout the trip? I am not trying to call the OP a liar or anything, just have questions.

Sent from my SCH-R740C using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

shocker81

Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
61
Location
Haysville, Ks.
The Sedgwick County system is a Phase 1 digital system. The attenutator was off the whole trip. I have never used the attenuator on my Pro 106 for the last three years since I started listening to the Digital systems which started out with the KSICS and the Highway Patrol. My settings on my Pro 106 for the trip were as follows, ATTEN OFF, NARWOW FM YES, AUDIO BOOST ON, DWELL 0, DIG ACC ON, SUPERTRACK ON, MULTISITE ROAM, THRESHOLD HI 85, LO 55,.I don't know what ATTEN is used for so I have never turned it on and I also have never used DWELL because I don't know what it is used for either. Oh I know I could find out easily enough what they are for but I obviously have never needed them as my PRO 106 picks up all of the digital systems as well as expected. The trip took me over five counties including Sedgwick County and it took me 6 hours and 10 minutes to complete. The results were disappointing for me as far as not being able to pick up in Augusta and Eldorado and Newton. Newton is closer to the reception area than Potwin and Whitewater and Kingman but I was not picking up anything in Newton at all. So all in all it was a great trip, the results were surprising and I hope I answered some unanswered questions for you scanner hobbyists.Did I need to do this trip? No, I live in Haysville and I have no problems picking up the system at all. But I was curious to find out what the limitations were on the receiving of the system and if I could help anybody with their questions about why they may be having problems picking up the system on their respective equipment and their locations.
 
Last edited:

dgruver911

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
425
Location
Newton, KS
Maybe only slightly tongue in cheek, but some have been saying for years that there is something around Newton/Hesston that blocks radio waves...maybe there IS something to it....;)
 

shocker81

Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
61
Location
Haysville, Ks.
There could be. The range for the Sedgwick County system comes just South of Newton. Like I said I could not pick it up at all. But Butler County came in loud and clear just like I was in the middle of Butler County. Now Whitewater and Potwin is several miles away from the range distance for the Sedgwick County system but in both towns it was loud and clear. Soon after I left Whitewater I did not pick up the system until I was West of Newton on K-50 out by the Halstead cemetery. But I ran out of it at about three miles East of the Reno County line. And I never picked up anything in Eastern Reno County or Hutchinson but boy it sure came in loud and clear over on K-14 and South Hutchinson. But the range distance map shows it two miles East of K-14. But the city of Kingman is about 12 miles past the range of the system and I was picking it up loud and clear down on Main Street in downtown Kingman. It was just a weird day but it was a interesting day at the same time. I am glad I took the time to take the trip.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top